Question Number: 83
PDR Number: LCC-OBE22-83
Date Submitted: 08/11/2022
Department or Body: Australian Federal Police
1. ACT Policing routinely plans for events that are attended by significant crowds in the ACT. These include sporting events and music festivals that are often ticketed. Experience gained from attending these events, and analysis of aerial images, allowed ACT Policing to estimate crowd numbers at the protest at Parliament House on 12 February 2022 at approximately 10,000.
2. During the protest activity in the ACT in early 2022, the AFP (both ACT Policing and AFP National) provided ongoing verbal updates and briefings to stakeholders and Government agencies including the Department of Parliamentary Services, the Parliamentary Security Service, the National Capital Authority, Transport Canberra and City Services, and the ACT Emergency Services Agency. The Serjeant-at-Arms and the Usher of the Black Rod were also regularly updated. There was no written correspondence provided to government officials in relation to the size of the crowd on 12 February at Parliament House.
